Marriott will fold five Found Hotels properties in major U.S. cities into Marriott Bonvoy under its newly launched Series by Marriott collection brand, the company confirmed in its 2025 announcement. The conversion gives Bonvoy members access to boutique, lifestyle inventory in Miami Beach, Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Monica, and San Diego, markets where paid rates routinely run $300 to $500 per night. Rollout is staggered through 2026, with each property integrating into Bonvoy's reservation and award systems on its own timetable.

For Bonvoy members, this is news worth tracking. The five properties expand award-redemption options into urban markets where points value has historically been thin, and they slot into a new soft-brand category that signals how Marriott plans to compete for independent inventory going forward.

What Series by Marriott Is

Series by Marriott is a new collection brand sitting alongside Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, and Luxury Collection in Marriott's soft-brand lineup. The difference is positioning. According to Marriott's brand documentation, Series targets midscale and upper-midscale boutique and independent hotels: properties below the price point Tribute Portfolio typically occupies, and below the design ambition Autograph requires.

The mechanic is the part hotel owners care about. A property joins Series without overhauling its design, operations, or staff training to match Marriott brand standards. It keeps its name, its identity, and its independent character. What it gains is distribution into Marriott's roughly 228 million Bonvoy member base and access to Marriott's reservation and revenue-management systems.

For Bonvoy members, Series properties function like other soft-brand collection hotels. Stays earn base points, elite night credit applies, status benefits transfer (with property-level variation), and rooms become bookable on points once the property goes live in the Bonvoy system.

The Five Found Hotels Properties

Found Hotels is a small boutique group built around community-oriented, design-forward urban stays: communal kitchens, coworking-friendly common spaces, neighborhood-driven aesthetics. The five U.S. properties moving into Series by Marriott:

  • Found Hotel Miami Beach (South Beach)
  • Found Hotel Chicago
  • Found Hotel Nob Hill, San Francisco
  • Found Hotel Santa Monica
  • Found Hotel San Diego

These are not full-service big-box hotels. They're smaller properties in walkable, expensive neighborhoods. Cash rates in these submarkets, particularly Miami Beach in season and Nob Hill on a weekday, make award redemptions interesting if Marriott prices them reasonably.

Likely Bonvoy Category Placement

Marriott has not published official categories for the Found properties. Based on submarket pricing and comparable Series and Tribute Portfolio properties already in Bonvoy, expect placement in Categories 4 through 7, roughly 25,000 to 60,000 points per night at off-peak pricing, with peak pricing climbing to 85,000 at the higher end.

The Miami Beach and Nob Hill properties will likely sit at the upper end given submarket cash rates. Chicago and San Diego could land mid-range. Santa Monica is the wild card, since beach-adjacent inventory tends to price at Cat 6 or 7 even for boutique properties.

Until Marriott publishes the categories, this remains projection. Award pricing will be confirmed when each property goes live in the Bonvoy reservation system, which Marriott typically announces 60 to 90 days in advance.

Why Major Chains Are Buying Boutique Distribution

The Series launch is the latest move in a pattern across the major hotel groups. Hilton runs Curio Collection and Tapestry Collection at roughly equivalent positioning. IHG launched Vignette Collection in 2021 with a near-identical pitch: independent hotels keeping their identity while joining a major loyalty program. Hyatt operates JdV by Hyatt and absorbed Mr. and Mrs. Smith's portfolio into World of Hyatt in 2024.

The driver is the same in every case. Independent hotels need distribution; the OTA economics are punishing and direct booking takes years to build. Major chains want urban and lifestyle inventory without the capital cost of building or franchising new-builds. Loyalty members want their points to work in interesting properties, not just airport Courtyards. Series is Marriott's answer to a market it had been losing to Hilton and IHG.

For points members, the practical effect is more soft-brand inventory across all four major programs. Redemption value at any individual property depends on how each chain prices its awards, which is the question the next 18 months will answer.

What Bonvoy Members Should Do Now

The five Found Hotels properties aren't bookable on points yet. Each will go live as it completes integration with Bonvoy's reservation system, with rollout running into 2026.

Three things to do in the meantime:

Bookmark the properties on Marriott.com and set up rate alerts. Once each goes live, you'll see it appear in award search and can compare points pricing against current cash rates.

Watch for Marriott's category announcements. The official category for each property is the data point that determines whether these are good redemptions or filler inventory. Marriott typically publishes categories before properties become bookable.

Don't reposition your Bonvoy balance yet. If you're currently planning a redemption, book it. The Found properties are a future option, not an immediate one, and Marriott's annual category adjustments, which historically happen in the spring, could shift the math before these go live anyway.

Series by Marriott is one to watch. Five properties is a small footprint, but the category will grow if the soft-brand model works for independent operators. The hotels Marriott adds next will tell you whether this brand is going to matter in two years.

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